Deforestation Patterns in the Amazon

Credit: Image credit: USGS/NASA/MODIS team, Posted on: Saturday, 10 April 2004, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

Deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest is occurring most rapidly along a curve that hugs the southeastern edge of the forest that scientists and resource managers have come to call the Arc of Deforestation. The land is cleared for cattle ranching, small-scale subsistence farming, logging, and, increasingly, soybean production for world markets. Satellite maps of deforestation over the years have revealed that this deforestation often follows a herringbone pattern, in which a new road appears as a thin line of cleared terrain, followed by the appearance of parallel clearings on either side of the road. three separate land surface categories: forest (red), herbaceous (non-woody) vegetation like grasses (green), and bare ground (blue). The Amazon’s numerous rivers appear white.

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